The Missing Witness
by spikeluver89
Summary: Mia Thompson witnesses a murder that freaked her out so bad, she left town. When the same case is reopened, she comes back to town. Will the team be able to hunt her down and get her side of the story on what happened before Mia disappears again?
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: Here's my second Cold Case story. I'm doing something different. It's going to be a case story however with a twist. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case. They belong to their rightful owners, I however, only own Mia and Alison and their families, not to mention the victim and whoever is not mentioned in the series. **

**Chapter 1**

_**October 23**__**rd**__** 2008-Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne**_

"Come on Professor, you honestly don't expect those serial killers would ever get caught in their life?" Ryan asked in class.

"Why not? They lived in screwed up lives and way worse then we deal with our lives" Mia Thompson argued.

"Very valid point Ms. Thompson however with these type of killers, they wouldn't leave no evidence behind unless the police found them" the professor told his class.

It was a fall Thursday afternoon at Pennsylvania University. The class was Criminal Justice and the class had just recently watched a documentary on serial killed Ted Bundy, which led into a discussion about the killers and why they do it.

Mia Thompson was twenty one years old and is in her third year at the college. Her major is working in the legal system. However, it came with a price as in taking courses and being in criminal justice was one of them. She had dark brown hair and piercing hazel-green eyes and was only 5'5 tall.

"Class, as much as I like to hear what you have to say, we have to wrap up for today. Don't forget that you thesis paper is due come Tuesday no later."

Everyone gathered their belongings and headed out the door. Mia tied her scarf around her neck and braced the Philadelphia cold weather.

"Hey girlie" her friend, Alison Harrison called out. "Why do you look so down?"

"Hi, no it's this Criminal Justice class." Mia said.

"Another debate again? Gees, Mia no wonder you choose to be a lawyer" Ali said.

"Well, what can I say?" Mia asked aloud.

"Want to go do something tonight?" Ali asked.

"Yeah, I just need to drop something off at Matt's apartment" Mia replied

* * *

Mia crossed the streets that night, making her way to the apartment complex. She got inside and headed up the stairs. She reached to the third floor and walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"Mia, finally" Matt, her older brother said as she walked in.

"Nice to see you too" she said.

"So did you bring it?" he asked.

"Yeah I did" she said, reaching in the bag and giving him the DVD. "I don't know why you needed so bad."

"Well, sister dear, I am having a night in with my girl and I do want to make it special" he said.

"Yeah, good luck with that. Listen, I got to jet, but remember. You destroy, you owe me a new one" she said.

"Yeah, yeah" Matt said as Mia closed the door.

She got outside and walked down the street to the restaurant. Mia wore her black pea coat, a grey long sleeved shirt, dark jeans and black boots. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she had some makeup on.

Mia decided that she wanted to take a shortcut and went down the alleyway. She had a weird feeling that either something was going to happen that was bad or something was going to happen to her. Either way, she didn't like it. She continued walking until she saw two figures standing at the mouth of the alleyway. She decided to not interfere and continued to walk, with her head down.

When she got closer, she heard yelling. She looked up and saw a man, looking like to be in his late thirties and pulled out a gun. She closed her eyes as the shot rang out. Mia opened up her eyes and saw that there was a body and she screamed in fear. She took off running, knowing that if the cops would get here, she would be arrested for absolutely nothing.

* * *

The victim appeared to be thirty one year old Aaron McCarthy, killed with a bullet wound to the chest.

His case box is seen being put on a shelf in Philadelphia Police Storage Unit.

The box, labeled cold as his name and case number is shown.

* * *

_**One year later….**_

Lilly Rush comes into Homicide on a cold February Morning. She sees Nick Vera, Kat Miller, and Will Jefferies in the break room as she puts her stuff down.

"Lil, Boss wants us in his office, possibly a cold one" Scotty said to her. She couldn't wait to see what they were dealing with.

She got into John Stillman's office and saw that he was there along with a woman who looked like to be in her late fifties.

"Lil this is Rose Landon, this is Detective Rush, Valens" he said.

"Pleasure to meet you" she said.

"Same so you got something on a case?" she asked.

"Yes, well it goes something like this. A year ago, I lived in the downtown area and I heard a gunshot. When I got outside, I saw the body on the ground so I called the police" she replied. "As I was calling them, I found something that might interest you." She proceeded to pull out an old beat up notebook. "That was found near the body."

Lilly took the book and flipped through the pages.

"Criminal Justice 101, Mia Thompson" Scotty said.

"Is she the victim?" Lilly asked.

"No, it was Aaron McCarthy, who lived in Chestnut Hill, however, that book belong to the girl who saw it happened and ran away" Rose replied.

"The missing witness, that was fresh buzz for awhile" Lilly said.

"Her family said that she came home one night, scared out of mind and when her semester at college ended, she took off, never to be seen again" John said.

"You think that she may know what happened that night?" Lilly asked.

"Possibly, but in my opinion, that young man didn't deserved to die. I may not know his family personally, but they could need the answers as to what happened and why and maybe this girl can help you, if you can find her" Rose said.

"We'll find her. She shouldn't be that far" Lilly said.

_Meanwhile…_

Outside of Philly, a girl with short brown hair, passes the sign, "Philadelphia Welcomes You". She sighs as continues to drive on.

"Welcome home, Mia" she mumbled to herself.

**A/n: Hope you liked it. We'll find out more of why Mia left town suddenly throughout this story. How will the team track her down? I know how it'll work and what made Mia come back to town? That'll be revealed in the next chapter as well as the case will be revealed. **

**I want to take it as a different approach. This idea has been stuck in my head and I wanted to give it a try. **

**Try to drop a review. Maybe either a suggestion on how I can improve a bit but try to be nice about it please. **

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case, only those that were never mentioned in the city is what I owned. **

**Chapter 2**

"What do we got?" John asked the two younger cops down in storage later that day.

"Aaron McCarthy, shot and killed on October 23rd, 2008" Lilly replied.

"Report said that it was a robbery gone bad" Scotty said, reading from the file.

"Autopsy did show that the bullet went through the chest so it was an immediate kill right there" Lilly said.

"But what about Mia?" John asked.

"Cops said that she wouldn't talk. Acted like she never was at the crime scene to begin with." Scotty replied.

"It also said that Aaron was carrying a diamond ring in his pocket, he was going to propose to his girlfriend, Cheryl but the ring disappeared by the time he died" Lilly said.

"I say let's try and get this closed as soon as possible. We need to find who killed the guy and why and find the girl. She maybe our key as to who did it" John said.

"Scotty and I will go talk to the parents" Lilly said.

"I'll have Kat and Vera go check on Mia's brother" he said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Why you say it like that?" Lilly asked.

"His mother recently died, saw the obituary in the paper, supposedly she's coming back for the funeral" he replied.

* * *

"You're opening up Aaron's case?" his mother, Helen asked.

"We may have a new lead" Lilly replied.

"Really? You found the girl?" she asked.

"Not exactly" Lilly said.

"We do want to know if he had any enemies before he died?" Scotty asked.

"I don't think so. I mean, he and Cheryl were in love. It made me wonder sometimes how he would've lived" she replied sadly. "However, there was someone that he felt was a threat to him."

"Do you remember who it was?" Scotty asked.

"It started back a year ago a month before he died….

_Flashback_

_Just Dance-Lady Gaga_

_Aaron and a couple of friends are on a college campus, talking and laughing while books are sprawled out. _

"_Hey Aaron, when is Cheryl suppose to come?" his friend asked. _

"_Well she said she has to stay after class to talk to one of her professors so hopefully soon" he replied. _

"_Speaking of the devil" his friend said underneath his breath. Aaron looked up and saw Cheryl walking towards them, but another guy steps in her way. She tried to walk past him but the man wouldn't let her go on her way. _

"_Is there a problem?" Aaron asked as he approached them. _

"_Nothing, just reminding your girl over here that I'm available for extra help if anything" he said. _

"_Cut the crap Rick, I know what you're up to and you know that I'm happily taken" Cheryl said defensively. _

"_Look just back off she doesn't want your help let it be" Aaron said. _

"_Oh I will, once you're out of the picture" Rick said as he left the two of them by themselves. _

_End of flashback_

"That's the only time that happened?" Scotty asked.

"Yeah and then after that he didn't mentioned it" Helen said.

"Just one last question, what college was Aaron attending at that time?" Lilly asked.

"Philly University, why is that?" Helen replied.

"Just curious, thank you for your time and if there's anything, just let us know" Lilly said as she and Scotty stood up and left the house.

"So now we need to track this Rick guy down" she said.

"Yeah wonder how Vera and Kat are doing with the brother" Scotty said as they head towards the car.

* * *

Matt is in the living room of his apartment where he shares with his former girlfriend, now wife and a new baby.

"Detectives, as much I can help you, I've just lost my mother and I don't even know if my sister is coming here for the funeral" he said sadly.

"We understand that your sister went to Philly University last year" Kat said.

"Yeah, she was in her third year, just a year shy from graduating" he replied.

"Did you know that Aaron McCarthy went to the same school as well?" Vera asked.

"That I did not know but I honestly don't know what happened that night after she finished that semester, she moved out of here and tried to commute to school. She was only a year shy" Matt replied.

"Look Matt, with everything that's going on, if your sister does come back to town, we do need to talk to her" Vera said.

"I know" he said sadly.

"We'll let you be, if anything, you know where to reach us" Vera said as he and Kat left the apartment. As the door closed, Matt heard footsteps coming out from the bedroom.

"They're gone?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, Mia, I want to know is why am I having police coming into my apartment?" Matt asked.

"Believe me, I wish I could tell you but I can't" she replied.

"Mia, we've managed to tell each other everything. Why are you letting that put in the way of it?" he asked.

Mia didn't know what to say. It has been a year. She changed her look so that way when she would come back to Philly one day, no one will have to recognized her. But now that has gone down the drain sort of speak, it would do no harm in telling her brother.

"Fine, it happened last October last year…"

**A/n: End scene. So how long do you think it'll take until the team get to Mia? Find out as you read along. **

**Please review! Let me know how I'm doing so far!**

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case. I only own whoever wasn't mentioned in the show at all. I borrow the characters for entertainment and that's it. Nothing else. **

**Chapter 3**

Later on that day, the squad was back at headquarters going over what Aaron's mother and Mia's brother told them. So far, they need to find Rick and they already know that

Mia was suppose to be in town for her mother's funeral.

Little do they do, she already in town and hiding out in her brother's apartment.

While the team was tracking down Rick, Mia thought it was a good idea to go ahead and see Ali. The two best friends managed to keep in contact after she left. Ali would go out and visit her while Mia had tried to build up the courage to come back and visit her. Unfortunely, it came at a time that it was well too soon with the sad circumstances.

Mia made her way through town later that evening after she settled into Matt's place. She wore the clothes that she still have on, only now she's wearing a hat and sunglasses. Mia pulled her car up to the curb and parked it in. After looking around, hoping no one would recognized her, she made her way up the apartment building.

"Mia, oh my god, I can't believe your back" Ali said as she opened the door. Ali was still the same except that her blonde hair gotten longer and she looked a bit older.

"Yeah I know" Mia said as they hugged.

"I'm so sorry about your mom" Ali said sincerely.

"Thanks, I just wish that I would've been here more but well you know" Mia said sadly.

"Yeah, which by the way, before, two detectives showed up" Ali said.

"Really?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah they asked me about you" Ali said.

"And?" Mia asked.

"Well, it went like this…"

_Flashback_

_Ali is watching TV and had just gotten off the phone when she heard a knock on the door. She put the phone down and walked over to the door._

"_Are you Alison?" Scotty asked her. _

"_Yeah who are you two?" she asked. _

"_Detectives Rush and Valens, homicide" Lilly answered. _

"_Look, I didn't do anything or know anything" Ali said quickly. _

"_You mind if we come in? We need to ask you a few questions" Scotty said. _

_Ali looked at them hesitantly before stepping aside to let them in. They both walked in and Ali closed the door. _

"_Is there anything I can help you two with?" she asked. _

"_We're here to talk about a murder case that just got reopened, Aaron McCarthy, does that name sound familiar?" Lilly asked her. _

"_I think so I mean I heard about his death on the news, that was a shock even throughout our school" she replied. _

"_We think that your friend had witnesses his murder" Scotty said. _

"_What?" Ali said, clearly shocked. _

"_I'm sorry but do you know when she's suppose to be in town? We would like to talk to her" he asked. _

"_I don't know, I mean her brother called awhile ago letting me know what's going on" she replied. _

"_If anything, let us know please, we hope that with what she saw, we'll find his killer" Scotty said. _

"_I hope so too" Ali said, looking over a picture of her and Mia not too far._

_End of flashback_

"Wait it was Aaron that got killed?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, wait, how did you know him?" Ali asked.

"He was in my criminal justice class" she replied.

"What?!" Ali asked.

"I didn't know him personally. Remember I didn't find out until that Monday that I found out about his death but I didn't know it was _him, _him" Mia said.

"Hon, what are you going to do? You know that they do need to talk to you" Ali said.

"I know, but I need to deal with Mom's funeral first" she said.

* * *

The next day, Lilly and Nick headed over to the auto shop where Rick was working. They spotted him working underneath the hood of a dark blue car.

"You Rick?" Vera asked.

He looked up from the car and glanced at the two detectives warily .

"Yeah, who's asking?" he said.

"Wouldn't be talking like that to homicide" Lilly replied. "We're here about Aaron the guy you threatened."

Rick let out a laugh. "Yeah I did that but that doesn't mean I killed him."

"Would you let us know where you were the night of October 23rd?" Vera asked.

"At the hospital, I was getting my appendix taken out. Got the pain during football practice that day. Had to sit out for the next three games" he replied.

"We'll check into that do you recognize her?" Lilly asked, pulling out a picture of Mia.

"I do actually, she was in my literature class, mostly kept to herself though" he replied.

"We think she was there at the crime scene the night he died" Lilly said.

"Look, I don't know is she was the one who killed her, I'm not you guys but from what I heard, Aaron was going back to school to get his bachelors. I mean he was a great guy from what I heard, I may have threatened him but I didn't have it so lucky, he did." Rick said.

"Thanks for your time" Vera said as he and Lilly left.

* * *

"So Rick's alibi came back solid, appendix was on the edge of rupturing that night" Kat confirmed later that night.

"So it wasn't him and Mia's friend Ali said Mia was suppose to be in town this week" Lilly said.

"But we still need to talk to the girlfriend tomorrow, not to mention his criminal justice professor who last saw him" Scotty said.

"Yeah and once we get Mia, she'll start talking" Lilly said. "Question is where do we find her?"

It was later that night when Scotty was heading on his way home. He stopped at a red light and he sighed while he waited. It wasn't even a full day and already the case was getting to him. There was something there that was catching his attention but didn't know what it was. He then decided to stop at a supermarket that was near closing but still managed to get some things before heading home.

As he was waiting in line, he noticed a girl with short brown hair getting some things as well. She looked oddly familiar but couldn't pinpoint who. It wasn't until he heard bits of the conversation that got him in detective mode. After the girl left, he went up to pay for his stuff.

"Poor kid" the cashier, a guy who looked like he was in his early fifties said.

"Why you say that?" Scotty asked.

"That girl that just walked out, had to pick up things for next Monday. Such a shame, I don't think no one should go through something like that." he said.

"Come again?"

"That girl that just left, her mother just died unexpectedly. Heart attack a few days ago. She said that she and her brother are holding up. Funeral's next Monday and the viewing is Sunday." he replied.

"Oh" Scotty said. After he paid for his things, he started to head towards the exit. He stopped for a second, before turning back to the man.

"Excuse me but do you know the girl's name? Who's mother just died I mean?" Scotty asked.

"Oh her name is Mia. Mia Thompson to be exact" he replied.

**A/n: Ah, a cliffy. I'm cruel I know. **

**What's going to happen now that Scotty know she's back in town? Will he tell the team or keep it to himself until the time comes? **

**This story will be updated Wednesdays now. At least that this is cover. I know what's going down and how this will go. So bear with patience as I try to write. I'm dealing with other stories and school and work and also my so called crazy thing called life. **

**You know what to do! See you guys next Wednesday!**

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: No I don't own Cold Case. If I did, I wouldn't be here, freaking out about my math test. **

**A/n: This is where we left off in the last chapter only the first part is Mia's side of the story. **

**Chapter 4**

Mia sighed as she picked up the last wine bottle in the supermarket. She should be lucky that the store was open at ten o clock. She walked out of the isle and headed towards the line which was a bit long. She took out her phone and sent a quick text to Matt to let her know that she was paying.

When it was almost her turn, she couldn't help but felt like she was being watched. She shrugged it off and paid for the stuff which led into a conversation with the cashier who knew her mom and told him about the funeral. As she was getting into her car awhile later, she looked up and saw a guy who was in his work clothes and was staring into her direction.

"Weirdo" she muttered to herself as she started the car.

* * *

"So you guys reopened Aaron's case a year after his death?" Cheryl asked Will and Kat the next morning.

"There was new evidence that came into play" Kat replied.

"Can you tell us where you were the night Aaron was killed?" Will asked.

"I was waiting at the restaurant, for him. He was running late so I called him. I called him the fifth time when my mother called me, telling me he was killed" she replied.

"Any reason for making that many calls?" Kat asked.

"I thought he either was running late or got lost. I mean would you call to see what was taking them so long?" Cheryl asked.

"Did you guys ever have any trouble with your relationship?" Kat asked.

"We would have the occasional disagreements on stupid stuff but that's really it" she replied. "However, there was this one time though."

"Go on." Will said.

"It happened about two weeks before his death. We were over at my apartment when it started…"

_Flashback _

_It's my life-Bon Jovi_

"_So hon, I was thinking maybe this weekend we could meet up with Lisa and Joe" Cheryl said. _

"_What? Sorry I didn't hear" Aaron said going back to his book. _

"_Is something bothering you lately? You seemed tense" she asked. _

"_It's just this stupid assignment for one of my classes" he replied. _

"_Why are you taking criminal justice?" she asked. _

"_I told you already, it's an elective and I need to take something. Besides there was an only spot left." he replied. _

"_Look maybe you need to calm down. You're adding more pressure to yourself" she said. _

"_Cheryl, I'm fine, you know that I need to take this course" he said defensively. _

"_Look I'm not questioning your studies, maybe your professor is being such a hard ass on everyone that it makes it seem like he's being a hard ass on you" she said. _

"_It's not my professor" he said. _

"_That's what you say now" she said. Before Aaron could put his input, Cheryl got up from the couch and walked away with Aaron looking at her back before going back to his book. _

_End of Flashback_

"Then we started talking like nothing happened awhile later" she said, finishing her story.

"It had to do with his schooling?" Will asked.

"Something like that, he was hiding something but I didn't know what" she said. "You could never forget your first love. I didn't, that's for sure."

* * *

"Sure I remember Aaron, he was in my Tuesdays and Thursdays class" Professor Johnson said to Lilly and Scotty in the afternoon.

"We're looking into his case again, new evidence came up" Lilly said.

"Where were you on the night of October 23rd?" Scotty asked.

"Teaching a night class here. It was a sociology class from 6:30 to 7:45pm. Then I stayed after late to finish grading their tests" he replied.

"How late did you stay after until?" Lilly asked.

"Probably around eight-forty five, nine," he replied.

"Did you ever have a Mia Thompson in your class at that time" Scotty asked.

"Yes, she was in my class at the semester. She managed to get a B average when the semester was over." he replied. "You think she had something to do with his murder?"

"We're not sure exactly." Scotty replied.

"I just have to say this, I would never harm my students, but his family should get peace. Closure on his murder and the killer as well" he said.

* * *

Later that night, Mia headed downtown to meet up with her brother for dinner. They talked about the upcoming days, leading to their mother's funeral. It still hadn't hit them that their mother was gone. She was dreading it and knowing what would happen, she had a feeling that the past needed to be put to rest with what she saw almost two years ago.

As she was walking down the street, she stopped at a building in front of her. She saw that it was Philadelphia Police Headquarters. It's not like she couldn't pinpoint it out in the map itself.

She took a breath and walked in the doors. She stood in the lobby as she figured out how to get to the homicide floor. Mia found out that it was on the fifth floor and proceeded to the elevator.

When Mia got off the elevator, she walked down the hall, seeing that it was empty already and found where homicide was.

"Excuse me, is that where Homicide is?" she asked an officer.

"Yeah, you need to talk to someone?" he asked her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw three people standing around. Mia then immediately looked at Scotty, the guy she recognized from last night.

"Nah, I can come back another time, sorry I wasted your time" she said. Before he could answer, she glanced right back at the three detectives and walked quickly out of the room and down the stairs.

* * *

"Who was that girl?" Kat asked.

"Beats me, she looked like she saw a ghost when she was looking at you" Vera said to Scotty.

"She does look familiar, can't put my finger on it though" Scotty said, watching her retreating form leave.

Little does she know, Scotty knows who she is.

**A/n: Dun, dun, dun. Yeah so things are getting interesting. **

**Next chapter, Mia prepares final arrangements for her mother's funeral and she gets an unexpected visitor from her past or present and the team finds revelations on the case. **

**For now, see you guys next week. Don't forget to follow me on twitter for any updates or wanting to know how I dealt with my crazy life. **

**Signing out for now, *don't forget to review!***

**Spikeluver89**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: You know it. I know it. I don't own nothing from Cold Case or the show. They belong to CBS. End of story. **

**Chapter 5**

"This doesn't make sense" Vera said the next day.

"What the fact that the donuts are gone or this case?" Scotty teased him.

"Har, har, check this out. There was someone else there at the crime scene that night besides Mia" he replied.

"Really?" Scotty asked.

"Yeah, turns out that it was none other than Rick himself" he replied.

"Whatever happened to his appendix getting taken out?" he asked.

"That's when he comes in. He's suppose to come in here in awhile, something bothering you?" Vera asked him.

"No what are you talking about?" Scotty asked.

"I don't know. Seems like last night, that girl looked like she knew you" he replied.

"Nah, man you got it all wrong" Scotty said.

Vera shrugged lightly as he went back to his desk. Scotty sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He knew who she was, but how is everyone will believe him if he said he saw Mia?

************************************

That day, Mia and Ali were by the university filling out some paperwork for school. They were walking on campus after filling out some registration forms for the next semester.

"I can't believe you're coming back to school" Ali said.

"Well I did transfer over to where I was and I wanted to come back home for awhile" Mia said, shrugging.

"Yeah but under different circumstances" Ali said.

"I know but what can you do about it?" Mia asked. Just before Ali said anything, a voice she dreaded to hear interrupted them.

"Well look who decided to come back" a voice said. Mia and Ali turned around and was faced with Ryan, who used to be in her criminal justice class. He has changed as far as his appearance goes.

"Ryan, long time no see, though I don't know what you're doing here" Mia said.

"Actually, while you're were registering, I was just settling some student loans" Ryan said.

"Such a shame since you'll be out of debt by the time you'll be done paying it all off" Ali taunted.

"Mia, also sorry about your mother" he said.

"Appreciate the sympathy" she said.

"Anyways, got to get going" he said, walking by the girls before he stopped. "Oh by the way, heard that Aaron's case was reopened. Say anything and you will regret it."

Mia watched him walk away in shock. How could he have known?

Unless…

***************************************

"You didn't tell us the truth Rick" Lilly said in interrogation along with Scotty.

"What are you talking about? Me getting my appendix out wasn't good enough?" Rick asked.

"Someone else said so otherwise, you saw Aaron the day he died" Scotty said.

"Okay so I did, so what?"

"Why you didn't tell that earlier?" Lilly asked

"You guys are cops, if I would've said something about that it would make it look like I did it but I didn't I swear" he replied.

"Then I suggest you start explaining yourself" Scotty said.

Rick took a deep breath before he started explaining. "You're right, I did see Aaron the day he died, but it was at school. Though we weren't the best of friends, we did remain civil after that stupid fight out on campus. I went up to him that day in the library…"

_Flashback_

_Green Day-Do you know you're enemy?_

_Aaron was in the library reading up on something for one of his classes. He's by himself in an aisle until he hears quiet footsteps. _

"_Hey Aaron right?" a voice asked. He turned up and saw that Rick was standing there. _

"_Come to make ore threats?" Aaron asked sarcasm hinted in his voice. _

"_Look, what happened a few weeks ago, it was my bad" Rick replied. _

"_Really? And how am I suppose to believe that?" _

"_I have no hard feelings against you really. You seem like a chill guy. I can see why everyone likes you. I'm asking us to be friends or anything but I thought you should know" he said before turning back into the direction he came. _

"_Wait" Aaron called out. _

"_What you said, I thought it was a joke. However, you did made it through the trouble to find me and apologize. That shows something to me" he said. _

"_Thanks, man" Rick said as they shook hands, a book dropped loudly onto the floor. When Rick looked up he saw the back of a fellow student leaving looking like he was mad at something or someone. _

_End of flashback. _

"Now who is this Ryan guy?" Lilly asked.

"Some guy who was in my Calculus class. Seemed an oddball to me" he replied.

"How so?" Scotty asked.

"Grew up in Cherry Hill, had the lifestyle of the rich you know that type of stuff. I don't know he seems weird to me" he replied.

***************************************

"Nervous about tomorrow?" Ali asked Mia as they neared the motel she was staying at.

"Yeah, I mean I have a feeling that there are going to be tons of people for mom but for Monday I'm just so nervous" she replied.

"You know you got me, and Matt as well. Also you got friends and soon enough, you'll be moving in with me once this settles" Ali said.

"I know, look I got to jet. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah see you then." Both girls hugged each other and went their separate ways. Mia took out her phone and saw that she had two voicemails. She got into her room and dropped her bag on the table nearby and sat on her bed, taking off her boots and coat. Mia then turned on her voicemail to check her messages.

"_Hey Mia it's Matt I know you already know this but don't forget we need to be at the funeral parlor at one so I'll meet you there. If you want to call back you can, I'm just reminding you. Love you sis, bye." _

She rolled her eyes as she deleted the message, mentally noting herself to set her alarm early for tomorrow. She went on to the next voicemail.

"_Hi Mia this is Detective Scotty Valens. We've gotten your number from your brother. We do need you to come down to the station once you get this, it's in regard to the Aaron McCarthy case we've recently opened. This is important so whenever you get a chance please come down here. Thanks bye." _

Mia sat on her bed frozen in shock.

She knew she had to tell what happened that night.

Can she even really do it?

**A/n: So Sorry for a late update. Writer's block is a pain in the ass. So yeah here it is with an hour left until Wednesday. A day early shouldn't hurt right. **

**Could Ryan be the killer? What will Mia do now that the squad have contacted her and will Scotty tell the team on how he "found" her? **

**All of those questions will be revealed in the next few installments of The Missing Witness. **

**Don't forget to review on the way out! **

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case. I own the characters not mentioned in the series at all and this is for entertainment only. However, two weeks ago I saw a guy at Target who can pass as Danny Pino or his long lost twin brother if he had one XD.

Chapter 6

"**Knock, knock" Matt said entering Mia's hotel room the next day. He was wearing a black jacket with black dress pants and a white button up shirt. **

"**I thought we were meeting up" she asked from the bathroom. **

"**Well I rather pick you up here, its on the way anyway" he replied. **

"**Okay then I'm almost done" Mia called from the bathroom. She emerged from the bathroom wearing a black button up shirt and grey dress pants. She put her hair up in a short ponytail with what was left of her short hair and walked her to the bed to put her boots on. **

"**Matt, can I ask you something?" she asked. **

"**Anything" he replied. **

"**What the hell were you thinking giving homicide my cell number?" she asked.**

"**Whoa, what are you talking about?" **

"**Last night, a detective named Scotty called me about coming in to talk about Aaron's murder. He said he got it from you" she replied. **

"**Um, no he didn't" he said. **

"**Really? He sure did" Mia said, zipping up her boots. **

"**I gave your number to two other detectives Vera and Miller. They said they would call you once we settle with Mom's funeral I don't know a Detective Scotty I swear" he said. **

**Mia stared at him. "I believe you" she said softly. **

"**Maybe he called because he wants the case settled or something" Matt said. **

"**Or Aaron's mother." she suggested. **

"**True, but I swear I only gave your number to the other two detectives, not this Scotty guy, I swear" Matt said. **

"**Yeah I know," she said throwing her black jacket on. **

"**Are Lacey and the baby here?" she asked. **

"**Only Lacey is, her parents are watching her at the apartment but they are coming by later tonight our sitter will be out of school by then" he replied. **

"**So it turns out that Ryan here has some record" Vera said at the station. **

"**Yep, got picked up for two DUIs back in 2007 was led off with probation and a couple fines" Will said. **

"**Wouldn't be surprised if he had some type of connection to this" he said. **

"**Where did the rest go?" **

"**Lil and Scotty went to talk to Ryan while Kat is tracking down where Mia is staying at the current moment" Vera replied. **

"**I thought Mia was staying at her brother's the last time you and Miller went there" Will asked. **

"**Correction, he was there, supposedly he said that she was coming into town." Vera said. **

"**You think she would come around? I mean, she has to be found at some point" Will said. **

"**She'll come around when she's ready, besides I told her brother that we'll give them time cause of her mom" he said. **

***********************************"Are you Ryan?" Scotty asked as he and Lilly approached him on the street outside of a building. **

"**Yeah who's asking?" he replied. **

"**Detectives Rush and Valens, homicide" Lilly responded back. "We have questions about Aaron." **

"**I figured you would want to talk to me about it." he said. **

"**You want to tell us where you were the night he was killed?" Scotty asked. **

"**I was out with some friends, I wasn't around in the area when he died if that's what you're implying" he replied. **

"**Well, we heard that you were in the library, overhearing what he and Rick were saying the day he died" Lilly pointed out. She somehow didn't believe his alibi.**

"**Yes but I didn't talk to him. He may be a nice guy but I think he was hiding something" he said. **

"**What makes you say that?" Scotty asked. **

"**I mean come on, a guy like him, in his late twenties, early thirties going back to college, there must be something going on" Ryan said. **

"**Said the guy who murdered him" Lilly said. **

"**Whoa, why would I kill him? I didn't know him too well. Well, there was this one time before he died, we sort of ran into each other, he was with his girlfriend….**

_**Flashback**_

_**Chris Brown-Running**_

"_**You don't think this look alright?" Cheryl asked Aaron at a Home Depot. **_

"_**Babe, it's red if you want to go for a dark red go right ahead" he replied. **_

"_**But I want the room to be bright, not dark" she said. **_

"_**How about a light blue instead?" I suggested. **_

_**She contemplated before taking a few paint samples. They were heading out of the aisle before Ryan came to them face to face. **_

"_**Well if it isn't the perfect couple?" he asked. **_

"_**Johnson, save it for the next debate" Aaron said. **_

"_**Well I got to say that for you, going back to school sure was the best idea you had yet" Ryan said. "Cheryl, do you know why he went back?"**_

"_**He told me and not that it should be a concern to you. Just cause you have the upscale life, doesn't mean you have to be so down on us" she argued. **_

"_**It's alright hon, we're leaving" Aaron said, as they walked past him. He turned towards Ryan one last time. "I suggest you watch out where you go. Say something like that again, you'll pay for it."**_

_**End of Flashback**_

"**Then I saw him in class that day the following week, and then the next day, found out he got killed" Ryan said. **

"**We'll get back to you if anything" Lilly said before she and Scotty turned away. **

"**Oh by the way" Ryan said which made the two detectives turned their heads. "I saw Mia a few days ago at the college. Looks like she's coming back here for good." With that said, he turned and headed towards the other direction. **

**Later that afternoon, Mia decided that before she was to meet up back at the funeral parlor that she was heading down to headquarters to settle this out. She didn't tell her brother where she was going but she'll be back in time. **

**She reached homicide and proceeded to head towards it. She approached it now as it was busy with cops and detectives fluttering, chatting and doing whatever they needed to do. **

"**This is just great" she muttered to herself. **

"**Can I help you with something?" Vera asked her. **

"**Um yeah you do the cold jobs right? She asked the older detective. **

"**Yeah, you got something?" **

"**It may depend. I heard that you've opened up that Aaron McCarthy case who died a year ago" she replied. **

"**You look familiar, who are you anyways?" Nick asked. **

"**Oh, sorry I don't mean to be rude, I'm Mia. Mia Thompson" she replied. **

**A/n: Oooh a cliffy! **

**Will Mia tell Nick her story, who did kill Aaron and will the team solve it the case?? **

**All will be revealed in the next chapter. **

**I hope this didn't seemed like it was rushed or anything but I'm in a mist of finals week at school so yeah. I may or may not update next week, pending on my schedule so I do want to try and update next week. **

**You know what to do. Thanks for your patience and support. **

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case. I own this plot and the characters that were not mentioned in the show past or present. **

**Chapter 7**

"Y-You're Mia?" Vera asked incredulously.

"Yeah, is there something wrong?" she asked confusingly.

"Um, no well, yes you see, would you want to sit down?"

"Actually I'm kind of on a timed schedule, I'm due back at the funeral parlor at seven…" Mia replied.

"I promise it won't take too long" Vera said.

Mia stood there for a second thinking it over. She glanced at her watch which said 5:54pm. She bit her lip and decided why not. She would meet up with Matt later while he had to wait for the sitter.

"Okay" she said sitting down. "May I first start off and this may come off as a little harsh but couldn't you guys wait until after I dealt with my mother's death?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" he said.

"Look Detective Valens, I got your message last night and I felt that-"

"Whoa, I'm not Detectives Valens, I'm Detective Vera, I talked to your brother about the case and I gave him time to deal with your mother's death and all" Vera said.

"Then who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Detective Vera, I was with Miller when we talked to your brother." he replied.

_So Matt was right _she thought to herself. She put her head into her left hand.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to be so rude. My mind is just not really here, it is here but not mentally here" she apologized.

"Don't worry about it, I just need to talk to Scotty about this" he muttered.

"But then if you're not him then, who is" before Mia could finish what she was saying, another voice interrupted her.

"Ryan's alibi seems to not add up for some weird reason" Lilly said as she and Scotty walked in. She noticed Mia sitting at Vera's desk. Mia looked up at Lilly and Scotty and she stood up fast.

"Why don't I come back another time? I need to get going anyways" Mia said throwing her jacket.

"Um yeah sure" Vera said as she quickly walked away.

"Who did you scare off now?" Scotty asked with a light teasing voice.

"That Scotty, was our missing witness" he replied darkly.

"That was Mia? Why didn't you let her stay?" Lilly asked.

"Yes it was and in case you guys forgot, she has her mother's wake to deal with, and she said she'll come back another time" Nick argued.

"We should've questioned her while she was here, but as long as she doesn't leave town, we won't have a problem" Lilly said while Scotty had a worried look on his face.

He knew what he did was stupid.

He need to talk to Mia.

Later that night, the viewing ended for the night as final preparations for tomorrow was settling. Mia couldn't get the weird feeling off of her like something was bound to happen.

"You ready to go?" Lacey asked. She nodded as both the girls walked out of the parlor and into the night.

"Would you guys mind if I spend the night at your place?" Mia asked.

"Of course, why?" she replied.

"Just didn't want to be alone" she replied with a shaky smile due to the cold.

"Well then why don't you just stay with us for awhile, you're due back at Ali's until the end of the week right?" Lacey asked.

"Yeah, I just need to head home to get the rest of my stuff and then I'll be back" Mia said confirming the plan on what was going to happen.

Later that night, while Matt and his family were asleep, Mia sat up on the couch just staring at the wall in front of her. She thought back to what happened at the police station earlier. She never told Matt or Lacey about it. Mia knew that it would be risky but she had to do it, just so that it would clear anything.

But now, looking back on it now, it was probably stupid to do.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked herself before leaning back on to the couch.

"So Ryan saw Aaron and Cheryl a few days before he died and somehow someone told us he was at the scene where Aaron died that night" Kat said.

"You think that maybe he was there to confront him face to face before he died?" Will asked.

"Well someone did say that it was a man who pulled the trigger" Lilly said. "Only thing was that the gun disappeared along with our doer."

"Not to mention that the guy was wearing some dark clothing that night" Scotty said reading from the report.

"Is this a bad time?" a voice said and Lilly looked up to see Cheryl standing in full view.

"No it isn't, you need something?" Lilly asked.

"I was wondering if I can talk to you alone" Cheryl replied.

"Sure follow me" Lilly said, leading Cheryl towards the break room and the two women sat down.

"I need to be truthful about something" Cheryl said.

"Go on" Lilly said.

"I was around the area where Aaron died that night" Cheryl said. Lilly was surely wasn't expecting that at all. "But it's not what you think."

"I hope not, why were you there that night?"

"I had to get something from there on my way to meet him. Detective, I don't even own a gun and after that night, I knew I had to get one for protection. But I never did. I was coming out of the store where I had to get something from." Cheryl said.

Lilly continued to write down what Cheryl was saying and let her go on.

"I saw Aaron going down the alleyway that he died in. Luckily he didn't noticed me. But I did noticed something else. I was on the other side of the street and I just seen him going in the alleyway and when I was getting in my car, and that's when I saw that girl going in there, following him" Cheryl said.

"You mean that you saw Mia going in the alleyway following him?" Lilly asked.

"Yep" she replied.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I realized some things in my life that I need to settle. I wouldn't think that he was cheating on me but maybe she killed him or something I don't know" Cheryl said.

**A/n: Sorry for this delay. Hope this makes it up. **

**I'm sure that most of you all know by now that Cold Case got cancelled. I'm sad and disappointed because of what happened. In my opinion I think that it deserved at least one more season so that way we would know what happened after season 7's finale. **

**I hope that either a reunion or a TV movie would be a follow up or something. I do wish the cast and crew luck in the future with projects or whatever and I hope to see the cast in other various TV shows or movies. They truly rock!**

**Don't forget to review on the way out. See you guys next week. **

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case which sadly did belong and still does to CBS, despite their cancellation. I do however own this plot and the characters that wasn't mentioned in the series. **

**Chapter 8**

The next morning, the weather was cold and a cloudy day. A perfect setting for a funeral sort of speak. Not that it was a joyous occasion but it was bound for it.

Mia sat in the living room early that day, waiting for Lacey to get done before the sitter came. She was dressed in a long sleeved grey turtle neck and a black skirt that went down to the knees. She also had her hair down and wore black heels.

"You okay?" Matt's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I guess. I don't know" she replied as he sat down next to her on the couch. "Matt I did something stupid yesterday."

"Whatever it was, I'm sure it wasn't too bad" he said.

"I went down to the police station" she said.

"Yeah, I had a feeling" he said.

"You did?" she asked incredulously.

"Well at some point they are going to start looking for you. Maybe, after a few days, you should go down there and tell them what happened" he said.

"I already told one of the detectives that anyways" she said, looking at her brother hopefully.

"I hope so" he said as Lacey entered the room wearing a black suit pants ensemble along with a pair of black boots.

"Bad news the sitter couldn't make it so the baby is coming with us" Lacey said.

"Yeah let's just try and get through this together" Mia said, grabbing her jacket and threw it on as the four of them left the apartment.

"Look who decided to drop the weapon off this morning Will said as he placed the gun on Nick's desk.

"It's here?" he asked.

"Yep. Turns out that someone dropped it off sometime during the night, I found it this morning and ran it into forensics. Should get the results back soon." he replied.

"I'm dying to know who that gun belonged too" Nick said.

"I wouldn't be surprised that it wasn't our doer's" Kat said.

"Well everyone that lived in Chestnut hill have their own gun and Ryan's family ironically owned a gun" Lilly said.

"Owned?"

"Yeah, somehow the gun mysteriously disappeared the day before the murder happened" Kat replied.

"But would steal a gun out of board daylight?" Lilly asked aloud.

At the cemetery later that morning, the priest was saying some type of prayer that only Mia was paying attention to some of it. She stared straight ahead, with tears on her face as she sat next to Matt and Lacey. She felt Ali's hand on her shoulder as she tried to contain her grief.

She couldn't help but feeling a pang of guilt going through her. She left home because of the murder, she watched an innocent man die and not do anything about it. She came back to town unfortunately for her mother's funeral, and to possibly tell her side of the story on what happened.

Mia covered her mouth and choked back a sob while the priest was saying the last few rites of the service.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust let the soul of Charlotte enter the heavenly gates into the afterlife lord. Bless those who are grieving with this loss during their difficult time and let him find peace and solace. Through, Christ our lord, amen."

"Amen."

Then everyone around them, started to place the roses on the casket that was in front of them and only Mia, Lacey, Ali and Matt were left. The baby was with Lacey's mother while the four of them need to say their final goodbye.

"I can't believe Mom's gone" Mia said after she and Matt said their private goodbye as they headed back towards the car along with Lacey and Ali.

"I know but I still can't believe Dad didn't come like I know he and mom divorced but at least have the respect to come" he said with hint of anger in his voice.

"Like he knew Mom died, we had the obit in the paper" Mia said. As the four them was near the car, Mia looked up and saw two people getting out of the car that wasn't far from where they were standing.

"I'm going for a walk" she said.

"You going to be okay?" he asked. She nodded mutely and walked away from the group. She needed to go to a familiar grave not far away.

"Scotty, what are we doing here anyways?" Lilly asked as the two of them stood outside of the car.

"You see that girl that just left them?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied.

"That's Mia" he said.

"I kind of figured that since yesterday but that still doesn't explain why we're at a funeral" she said.

"I sort of did something stupid to her" he said.

"Well whatever it is, you should sort it out now" Lilly said as they headed towards the group. The blonde girl looked up and made her way towards the two detectives.

"Detectives, I didn't expect to see you here" Ali said.

"We're here to talk to her" Scotty said.

"I don't think she's in the best state to talk to you guys just yet" Ali said.

"I know, I meant that well, I need to talk to her," Scotty said.

"I know where she went, hold on one second" Ali said, turning back and headed towards the couple and whispered to them.

Scotty hoped that he could make some things right.

Mia walked until she got to the gravesite. She stood in front of it, trying to find the words on what to say.

"I haven't been here since your funeral. Hell, I don't even know what I'm doing here" she said. "I mean, I still can't believe your dead. It's just been a year so, this is so awkward I don't know."

She knelt down and saw Aaron's name in stone with flowers surrounding it.

"You were so young. It's so unfair that you had to die like that. Now the police reopened your case. Can you believe that? I know that I should've opened my mouth and said something or stopped that person who killed you. I should've but I was too scared. I was too damn scared to talk to the police that I skipped town."

Tears started to fall down her face and she wiped them hastily before sitting on the ground.

"I know that I was there that night and I saw what happened. If I went to the police then, I would've been arrested right on the spot. I didn't even have a gun so what would that prove? I don't understand why am I being such a coward. I want your murder to be solved and your family have closure. I bet your wondering if I'm saying all these things, then why am I being such a damn coward for?"

"You're not" a voice said from behind.

Mia sat there frozen on the ground. She was afraid to even look up or something. He breathing started to pick up a bit. She looked up for a second and saw Scotty standing over her.

This wasn't good.

**A/n: Oh snap a cliffy I know! This chapter was a bit crappy though. I don't know what but I felt like it was. **

**What will Mia do now? Will she run away or hear what Scotty has to say? That'll be revealed in the next chapter. Come on now, you think I would give it away? **

**You know what to do. We got five reviews so far! You guys rock!**

**See you guys next week!**

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89 **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case only the characters I made up and that wasn't mention in the series at all. **

**Chapter 9**

"Just who the hell are you anyways?" Mia asked defensively as she slowly stood up.

"Detective Valens, homicide" Scotty replied showing her his badge. Mia's eyes widen a bit and she froze.

"You're homicide" she stated.

He nodded and Mia then realized what she said out loud. "You heard didn't you?"

"Almost everything" he replied.

"Are you going to arrest me?" she asked shoving her hands in her coat pockets.

"No why would I do that?" Scotty asked.

"It's cause I witnessed that murder a year ago and I never came forward." she replied.

"How did you-?"

"Just cause I left town and came back doesn't mean that I know what's going on. I know that I'm the missing person you guys were looking for before the job went cold" she said. "I also happen to know that cause my brother and my mother kept me updated. The only thing that got me back here was my mother's death."

"I know how hard this is for you and I'm sorry that I called you I didn't know you would be dealing with your mother, but"

"But what? You want me to come down to headquarters and let you in on what happened that night? I don't think so" she said harshly.

"But we need to know, we want to put this to rest, hopefully closure for his mother" Scotty said.

"You don't think I know that? I watched him get gunned down in front of my eyes when I was trying to avoid getting involved what so ever" she said. A few stray tears fell down her face.

"Mia," Scotty said stepping slowly towards her but she made no move to back up. "You have to let us know what happened that night, I'm not saying right now but you need to come down to the station soon though."

"I can't. I already went down there like twice and to show up there for the third time? Nope. No way in hell" she said walking past him but not before Scotty grabbed her arm lightly.

"Look, you need to own up on your part. Everyone else has. We need your story so that way we can get whoever did this" he said.

"I just don't know if I can" she whispered before heading off to where Ali was standing by her car, leaving Scotty alone in his thoughts.

"So prints came back, they do reveal who they belong to however there is one problem, the fingers were covered by gloves" Will said.

"They couldn't get the prints off the gloves?" Lilly asked.

Will shook his head. "Couldn't find them" he replied.

"There has to be some way to get those gloves and find out who those prints belong to" Stillman said to the group.

"Well someone from around the area of the murder did tell us that someone did go into the 99 cent store to buy the gloves the day of the murder" Vera said.

"Did they say who?"

"It turned out to be Ryan" Vera replied.

The group looked at each other in suspicion. They may have a solid lead now, however one more witness needed to come forward to what happened the night Aaron died.

It would be too little or too late for that to happen.

And Mia needed to do something about it.

Later that night, everyone left Matt and Lacey's apartment and the girls helped them cleaned up the place from everyone that gathered after the service. Mia was putting the sliver ware and the glasses away when she kept thinking about the conversation with Scotty at the cemetery.

He did apologize after all for leaving a message like that on her cell phone. But he was right about one thing. She needed to tell him about what happened that night. Everything. She didn't know how to and whether or not it would either help them with the case or fail them miserably.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Ali's voice that was repeating over and over in her head.

"Hello? Earth to Mia? You there or am I talking to a wall?" she asked.

"Sorry Ali, my mind was over the place" she replied.

"Are you okay? If it was about what happened at the cemetery…" Ali said whether or not she would want to continue the subject.

"It is sort of" Mia said looking around to see if Matt and Lacey were around and when they weren't she told Ali the story about what happened at Aaron's tombstone and how Scotty found her. She kind of figured that Ali told the detective where she was. She wasn't too mad that it happened but it gave her some worry and insight on what was happening. Sort of.

"Hon, as I hate to say this but that detective was right" Ali said.

"What if I get caught saying something, you don't think he would go with his threat, would he?" Mia asked.

"Look, don't worry about him. It's his damn fault for killing that poor guy. He should rot in jail" Ali replied.

"I just hope that I'm doing the right thing" Mia said, staring out from the kitchen window.

"You are and you will, so tomorrow we're getting more of your stuff?" Ali asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, my landlord knows that I'm moving back, you sure you don't mind me moving in with you?" Mia asked.

"We've been best friends since high school, you think I would say no to you? Besides, as long as you're paying half the rent and splitting the bills, we'll be fine, so see you tomorrow and get some rest" Ali said as the girls hugged.

When Ali left for the night, Mia stood in the kitchen and sighed heavily. She ran her hand across her face in distress.

She knew that she wasn't going to sleep well tonight.

A few days later, Mia was once settled in her and Ali's apartment. The next day, she got up and made the final decision after much consideration, she was heading down to the station.

She got ready, showered, drank some coffee and had a cereal bar. She brushed her teeth and threw on a green flowered peasant shirt with dark boot cut jeans and a pair of black and white converse sneakers. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and threw on a grey sweater and a dark brown jacket.

Once when she got into the police station, she got a visitor pass and headed up to the third floor in the elevator. After taking a few breaths and assuring herself it would go okay (to say the least), the elevator stopped on the third floor and she got off the elevator, clutching on her bag for dear life.

She walked into homicide once again, looking around as people were at desks doing paperwork or taking calls. She had no idea where to go to now.

"This is just brilliant" she mumbled to herself.

"Can I help you with something?" someone asked her. Mia looked up and saw that a woman with light blonde hair and a pale complexion standing in front of her.

"This is where I go if I wanted to tell someone about a murder, right?" she asked. She cursed herself for asking that stupid question.

"Yeah this is homicide, you look familiar though" the woman said.

"I think you guys have been looking for me for awhile now." Mia said before taking a huge breath. "I'm here to let you know what happened to Aaron McCarthy the night he died."

**A/n: A cliffy I know but it had to happen at some point. **

**Next chapter will be an important one as will Mia revealed what she saw that night. Any guesses on who killed Aaron are more than welcomed! Also, something will happened that will threaten Mia's life and it wont be pretty. **

**Review if you must! Only a few chapters left until this story is over! I would've made it a bit longer but I think this story will be a short one. Next time will be a longer story, I promise! **

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**

**P.S. I'm probably going to update this story next Friday since next Wednesday I turn 21! So maybe a review or so would be a nice birthday gift and yeah. **

**See you guys next week! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Does it look like I own Cold Case? Cause if I did, they would so be renewed for an eighth season but sadly they're not. I only own the characters and plot so I guess that counts as something. **

**Chapter 10**

"You're the girl that came in a few days ago weren't you?" Lilly asked Mia.

"Yeah that's me" Mia replied nervously.

"Why don't you go wait in the first room over there I'll be right there" Lilly told Mia and Mia walked slowly into the interrogation room. She sat down at one of the chairs and she felt herself shake like a leaf.

Meanwhile, Lilly couldn't believe that this was happening. After Mia went into the room, she quickly made her way over towards the break room where Scotty, Boss and Vera was there as Will and Kat headed out to the 99 cent store to check out about who bought the black gloves.

"You'll never guess who came in just now" she said.

"Couldn't be the others, they just left" Vera said.

"Mia's here" Lilly said. The three men looked up at her in surprise and shock, mainly Scotty with the shock part as well as Vera.

"When did she come in?" Boss asked.

"Just now" she replied. "I told her to wait in the room over there."

"How should we go about this then?" Scotty asked.

"Lil, you and Nick go ask her questions get her side of the story, Scotty you and me will be in observation" Boss replied.

"Are you sure you don't want Nick with you?" Scotty asked warily.

"Trust me Scotty, you should be with Boss so that way you and him can see whether or not she'll tell the truth" Nick replied and went to follow Lilly. Scotty stood there awhile before making his way over.

"Breathe Mia, just breathe" Mia told herself awhile later as the door open.

"Mia, Detective Rush and Vera" Lilly introduced. Mia nodded mutely.

"Thanks for coming down" Nick said, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah well, with what's been going with my life lately I just hadn't had the time" Mia said.

"We understand now someone came forward saying that you saw what happened to Aaron that night" Lilly said.

"That is true" she said.

"Why were you around the area that night then?" Nick asked.

"I was heading down that alleyway as a short cut because I was running late meeting up with a friend for a night out" she replied.

"Did you know Aaron before he died?" Lilly asked.

"He was in my criminal justice class, we met while working on a project together before he died" Mia replied looking at her hands.

"Did you know he had a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, come on you think I would have an affair with him? I don't think so" she replied. Over on the other side of the glass Scotty and Boss was watching intently to see if she would know anything so far.

"Moving on now someone said that they saw you follow Aaron in the alleyway the night he died a few seconds after he went in their himself" Nick said.

"I didn't kill Aaron" Mia stated.

"Why would we want to believe you?" Lilly asked.

"Because I don't own a gun and my Dad had one but he took it with him when my parents divorced two years ago" Mia replied.

"Someone also said that you didn't call the police that night when he was killed" Nick said.

"I didn't call the police because I knew that I would be a suspect just like that and not to mention that I never saw someone get killed or died in front of me in my life" she replied. "However, I did see Aaron earlier that evening."

"Go on."

"I saw him in my brother's neighborhood, I was there to drop off a DVD for my brother but I didn't know why Aaron was there until he spot me going up to my brother's apartment…"

_Flashback-The Killers- Human_

"_Freaking Matt, just when I'm about to go out" Mia grumbled to herself as she approached the apartment building when she noticed Aaron across the street. He sees her and runs across the street as he looked both ways. _

"_Hey you" he said. _

"_Hi what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. _

"_Came by to pick up something for Cheryl tonight" he replied. _

"_Ah well, my older brother wanted a movie from me so he wanted me to drop it off for him" Mia said. _

"_I want to show you something, it's for Cheryl of course and I think tonight is the night" he said pulling out the small jewelry bag and pulled out the small black velvet box. "I'm going to pop the question, tonight." _

"_Wow, that ring looks beautiful, congratulations" Mia said hugging Aaron. _

"_Thanks but I still have the gut feeling she's going to say no" he said. _

"_Hardly doubt it. Like you said you guys were together for what two years. She's going to flip but in a good way about it" Mia assured him . _

"_Yeah" he said. _

"_Well, I got to go, my brother would think that something happened" Mia said heading up the front steps of the apartment building. _

"_Okay well I got to me my soon to be fiancée" Aaron said. _

"_Good luck tonight" she called out as she walked into the building_

_End of flashback_

"So he did have the ring after you guys part?" Nick asked.

"Yep, I went to Matt's apartment and dropped off the movie and left" Mia replied.

"Then tell us how you saw Aaron get killed" Lilly said. Mia got quiet for awhile, looking at her hands.

"You have to tell us" Nick said.

"I know it's just…something that he told me before he said if I say anything…" Mia rambled. "I knew that this was a bad idea." She got up quickly and before she even reached the door, Lilly blocked her way.

"Mia, it took you a long time to come here and for us to even find you, please just tell us what you saw" Lilly said.

"I don't know" Mia said.

"You have to. We need to get some lead here, do this for Aaron and his mother" Lilly urged.

Mia sighed and she tossed her bag on the table and stood against the wall. "After I left Matt's place, I headed towards the restaurant when Ali called me…"

_Flashback_

"_Hello?" Mia answered her cell pone. _

"_Where are you? I've been waiting for like ten minutes" Ali asked. _

"_Well when I was leaving my lovely brother decided to text me asking to borrow my movie" she replied walking down the street. _

"_Oh okay cause you scared me for a minute there" she said. _

"_Yeah and I ran into Aaron also" Mia said. _

"_Really? What was he doing there anyways?" she asked. _

"_No he was coming out of a store and he showed me something he got for Cheryl since they're going to dinner" Mia replied as she looked both ways before crossing the street. _

"_Ah well tell me more when you get here, I'm like starving" Ali complained. _

"_Relax I'm almost there I'm taking a shortcut so I should be there ten minutes or less" Mia said. _

"_Okay see you soon" Ali said and they both hung up. Mia shoved her phone in her pocket. _

_She continued to walk until she saw Aaron going into the alleyway. She took the chance and followed soon after. She kept her distance so that way he wouldn't noticed her. Mia ducked her head and lifted her eyes a few times so that way she wouldn't trip over anything. _

_Mia was halfway out of there when she saw Aaron being stopped by another man. She looked up and saw Ryan's face with anger and bittersweet mixed in. She put her head down as she saw him lift up a gun. _

_End of flashback. _

"Next thing I knew, I heard a shot and I saw Aaron dead" Mia said ending her story.

"You sure it was Ryan?" Nick asked.

"Yeah I mean rumor has it at school then those two never got along and was trying to make his reputation there ruined" Mia replied.

"You ca go, you're not going to get arrested" Lilly said.

As Mia opened the door, she stopped for a second.

"Oh by the way, Ryan did say I'll regret anything if I said anything to you guys" Mia said non-chillingly.

"Why would he say that?" Nick asked. Scotty and Boss stopped moving as they both heard what she just said.

"Who knows? I like to see him keep his word" Mia said as she opened the door and walked away.

"So now we know who was really there that night" Lilly said.

"But why go after her if she said anything?" Nick asked.

Later that night, Ali and Mia were sitting at the park bench as Mia recapped everything that happened earlier.

"You think Ryan kept word on his threat?" Ali asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it" Mia replied.

"Um, why would you even say that for? You never know what he's capable of" Ali said worriedly.

"Would you relax? He's all talk and no action" Mia replied as they both got up. It wasn't only a few feet away from the bench that they heard chuckling. Mia turned around and saw something coming out of the shadows.

"I would be all talk but I would like to have a little action" Ryan's voice appeared as he came across the girls with a evil grin on his face and in his hand was a switchblade knife.

This wasn't good.

**A/n: Yeah not looking pretty for both of them. At least Mia told her side of the story!**

**Longest chapter ever for this story anyways! So what will happen now? Will the squad get to the girls on time or will it be too late?**

**Stick around for the next chapter! Only two more left I can't believe this is almost over! **

**Don't forget to review! They make good birthday presents for me LOL. **

**Signing out for now, see you guys next week!**

**Spikeluver89**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Cold Case. They belong to CBS. Never have own them, never will. **

**Chapter 11**

"Well, if it isn't the snitch who ratted the enemy out" Ryan said menacingly.

"Aren't you suppose to be out of town?" Mia asked.

"Got back today, get this. I got a message from my lawyer about the cops contacting me about McCarthy's murder" he replied.

"Look, whatever happened, you need to tell them, I only told what I saw" she said.

"Mia let's get out of here" Ali whispered, grabbing Mia's arm. They both started to turn away when his voice started to speak again.

"Don't you walk away from me!" he yelled. Both girls froze in place, afraid of moving, not even a flick of a finger.

"You have your phone with you?" Mia whispered to her. Ali shook her head no frantically. Mia slid her hand in her jacket and took out her phone and gave her phone in Ali's hand.

"I want you to call Philly PD and get homicide. Tell them that there's something going down here if they can't put you through them then run to the station" Mia instructed.

"I'm not leaving you here with that psycho" Ali said.

"Please do this for me. I'll be fine" Mia said assuringly to her. Ali took a deep breath before taking off leaving her best friend behind. She spun around and was faced with a mad man with a knife in his hand.

"Where did Ali go?" he asked.

"Don't worry about her. You want me didn't you? So I'm here" she replied.

"I can't believe you would sell me out like that, only you would be able to do that" he said.

"I would be able to do that are you that insane? Because you come from money and from the upscale town, doesn't mean that I should have to cover your ass with your stupid mistake" Mia replied.

"Growing a backbone now are we? Sure as hell didn't have a year ago" he said. "I like that."

"Please, just do us all a favor and go down to the station where they'll be waiting for you and by the way, I heard jail cells have very uncomfortable beds" she said snidely.

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut Thompson" he said.

"Or what, you're going to stab me? I like to see you try" she said.

"You bitch" Ryan said as he walked furiously up towards her. Scared out of her mind, she grabbed a tiny can of mace from her pocket and as she was going to spray him in the eye, she felt the can slipping out of her hand.

"So we checked out the store and it turns out that he was in the store that day" Will confirmed to the rest of the group that night.

"Yep also the same gloves we found not too long ago, had fingerprints on him" Kat said.

"So that means Ryan did it but for what reason?" Lilly asked.

Before anyone could answer her, they heard commotion coming out in the hallway. Lilly and the rest looked at the door as they see a girl trying to get out of the security guard's arms.

"Let me go I don't care if your security!" she yelled.

"Ma'am you need a visitor's pass" he said.

"I don't care this is an emergency!" she said trying to get out.

"What's going on here?" Lilly asked.

"She came running through the lobby and I tried to stop her" the guard replied.

"Don't worry we got her from here" Lilly said, recognizing Ali as she saw her face. Ali had tears streaming down her face and was shaking.

The guard gave one last look before heading back downstairs. Ali stood there in shock not wanting to move.

"Hey, come sit down" Lilly offered as she led Ali into the department. Ali crossed her arms as she walked, trying to control her emotions but she knew by now that it would be impossible.

"Ali try to calm down and tell us why you're here" she said.

"I don't know how it happened. I mean one minute we were just hanging out and then he-he shows up and I had to go along with her stupid idea and she's going to get killed" Ali said.

"Wait, slow down, who's doing what?" Nick asked.

Ali took a couple of deep breaths before she continued on to what she was saying. "Me and Mia were at the park and Ryan came over saying on how she ratted him out and he had a knife with him, I think he's going to kill her."

"Don't think that you're going to get away this easily." he sneered.

"Just let this go. Go to them and tell them" Mia pleaded as she knelt to the ground to get her can. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide at this point and nowhere to find someone to help her.

"And I should believe you why?" he asked. She didn't say anything. "That's what I thought."

In less than a second, he started to lunge at her but luckily she grabbed the mace and sprayed him directly in the eyes. Mia heard him cry out in pain and it was her cue that she got the hell out of there. She pushed off the ground and sprinted far away from him.

Mia kept running before she managed to get to the parking lot. As she was getting close, she felt her foot going into something and she tripped. She fell to the ground and groaned in frustration.

_Come on Mia, just get to the car and head to the station. You can do this._

Mia got up slowly and saw that her jeans got covered with dirt as she got up. It wasn't long enough before she took a step towards the lot that someone grabbed her roughly and threw her to the ground.

"You think you can just run away from me like that?" he yelled at her. He walked around her and started to swing around his hand that had the knife in it.

"You bastard get out of here!" Mia screamed at him.

"I don't think so" he said, grabbing Mia and pulling her off the ground. "We're not done yet."

"Let go of me" she said pleadingly. "Please." She struggled to get out of his hold but to her, it was useless now. Maybe sooner that she would be dead.

It wasn't until she heard a car screeched to a stop that she took one look at Lilly and Scotty who jumped out of the car before she was thrown to the ground.

**A/n: Yeah pretty intense! **

**I do have good news though. My laptop has internet connection! I know it sounds dorky but I'm happy. So my plan was that I'll finish the remaining chapters to my other stories on my desktop and write new chapters on my laptop. If for some reason my aunt wants to borrow my laptop then I'll do my writing on my desktop. **

**Last chapter is ahead! What will happened next? Have to stay tune and find out!**

**Signing out for now,**

**Spikeluver89**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case or anything related to the show or the music used. I only own the plot and the characters that weren't mentioned in the series. **

**Chapter 12**

"Put the weapon down and leave your hands up!"

Ryan looked up and he saw Lilly and Scotty holding their weapons at him while Mia was on the ground groaning in pain.

"Well if it isn't Philly's finest? Came to see the final act?" Ryan asked menacingly.

"We know what you did that night" Lilly replied harshly.

"I didn't do anything wrong so I don't know what you're talking about. Now if you don't mind" he said, grabbing Mia with strong force by the arm and she cried out in pain. "Mia and I have some unfinished business to do."

"Let her go" Scotty said.

"Why, she ratted me out to you guys she deserves what she gets" Ryan said tightening his hold on Mia with the knife near her throat.

"We know why you did it. It was because that you had to compete against Aaron over the reason why he went back to school. You had everything until that day when he came back to school, that the spotlight was taken away from you" Lilly said.

"Ryan, just tell them the damn truth" Mia said weakly.

"You don't get to say anything" he hissed at her. Mia whimpered lightly as she stood there as a hostage.

_I so want this nightmare to be over. Why do bad things have to happen to me?_

As Ryan was about to step away with Mia, Mia kicked him in the shin and he cried out in pain. He let go of her and she fell to her knees and was trying to catch her breath as she felt tears coming down her face. Scotty took the opportunity to get Mia off the ground and he wrapped his arm around her and held her almost protectively.

"Why don't you guys get it? That maybe I wanted him to be gone from college because of the stuff that he did before. That I wasn't going to let him get away with what he did" Ryan said.

"You need to tell us why you did it. You don't want to take someone else's life over it and the fact that you are in this situation it won't make it any better." Lilly said.

Ryan looked over at the two detectives and then at Mia. He looked at her for a long time as she looked at him. He saw the dirt and the blood that was all over her. The detectives and Mia were right. He had to come clean.

He sighed heavily, ran his hand through his hand and tossed the knife far away from them on the ground.

"Well you want to know what happened. Then how do you feel if you had a nice life and a reputation at school that it got taken away one day in class? From someone who had a troubled past?" He asked. "Not me that's for sure."

"Then do tell how it feels then, you seem to know that better than me. Even better than them" Lilly said, motioning to Scotty and Mia who were standing nearby, watching.

Ryan looked at them and at Lilly. He looked at his hands before he felt tears in the back of his eyes threatening to fall.

"I never had anything against him before he came, but ever since, it's like he had gained most of the school's respect" he said. "I only wanted to threaten him that was it, but I didn't think of killing him…

_Flashback_

_Aaron is walking down the street and turned into the alleyway. He took out the small velvet box and smiled at it before putting it away. He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket, trying to bare the cold October night weather as he made his way through the alley to get to the restaurant._

_Somewhere in the shadows, Ryan stood waiting for someone. He pulled on the black gloves and had something big in his jacket pocket. _

_Just as Aaron reached the midway of the alley, Ryan stepped out with a look of determination. _

"_Whoa, dude, you scared the crap out me" Aaron said jumping back a bit. _

"_Really well that's a first" Ryan said._

"_What are you doing out here anyways?" Aaron asked._

"_Just in the neighborhood, what you do you think"he replied._

"_Look, if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be" Aaron said, trying to step around Ryan. However, Ryan took a step in front of him. _

"_Back off I got somewhere to be and I'm already late" he said. _

"_You are so not going anywhere"Ryan said. _

"_Really?" Aaron asked. _

"_Yeah, really, I'm just here to let you know that after this semester ends, you're not going back there" he said._

"_You're kidding me, right? You're not my parents and you have the nerve to tell me what to do" Aaron said, defensively. _

"_I don't want you back at my school, I've been there for almost four years and you've only been here what a couple months in school?" he asked darkly. _

"_I was in college and you know probably by now why I had to drop out with my dad which should've been none of your concern in the first place" Aaron said. _

"_Will you just shut up and listen to me for once?" Ryan asked as he held the gun that was sitting in his jacket pocket, waiting for it to be taken out of his hiding place. _

"_Do Cheryl, me and all of us a favor and leave us the hell alone" Aaron said angrily. As he was shoving his way past Ryan, he only walked a few steps when he heard movement in the background. Aaron spun around and saw that there was a gun in Ryan's hand facing at him. _

"_Dude" Aaron said. _

"_Oh now look who's scared" Ryan said sarcastically. _

"_Just put the gun down and we can talk this out" he said calmly. _

"_I gave you plenty of chances to do that and you obviously turned them down but when I have a gun, now you want to do it?"_

"_Just put the damn gun down" Aaron said. _

"_I can't do that, only that you would agree to leave school" Ryan said. _

"_No and stop telling me what to do cause I've had it with your bullcrap" Aaron said. _

_Everything happened in a flash. Ryan's finger slipped and pulled the trigger and the gun went off and the bullet flew through Aaron's chest. Aaron's eyes popped out as he fell backwards and landed on the ground. _

_Ryan saw what just happened and his eyes went wide. He only wanted to use the gun to scare him, not kill him. _

"_What have I done?" he whispered to himself. He heard a girl's scream and turned and saw that Mia was there and she had a look of horror and fear as she ran off. Ryan threw the gun in the nearest trashcan and picked up the small box next to Aaron's body and ran off. _

_End of flashback_

Music-Owl City-Fireflies.

Lilly is seen, handcuffing Ryan as he has a look of remorse and guilt on his face. He turns to see Mia and Scotty as Mia looks at him before he turns his face away as Lilly leads him to the car.

Another car arrives and Ali is jumping out of the backseat and runs towards Mia and both girls hugged while Scotty, Vera and Kat watch on.

Boss is seen giving Cheryl the lost engagement ring at the station. She takes it and puts it on her third finger which fits perfectly and she has a sad smile on her face.

Will and Nick bring the case box of Aaron which is now labeled **CLOSED** in the closed storage and it is seen put on a shelf and they both leave.

Professor Johnson is teaching a night class about the latest murder that the students were learning.

Aaron's mother is seen looking at a picture of her late husband and son in the photograph. She stares out the window into the cold night as she sees the first few snowflakes fall.

Back at the mechanic's shop, Rick is closing up the shop. After he locks the door, he faces the street and takes out a piece of paper with an address and makes his way to his destination.

Over at Joe's Tavern, the squad is there after a few long days of solving the case and Scotty is seen telling them about what he knew about Mia and how he found her but never told a soul. The rest were listening intently.

By Ali and Mia's place, the girls were in the living room catching Matt and Lacey on what happened with the night's events. Mia gets up and opens up the door and shocked to see Cheryl there. Cheryl then hugs Mia as a thank you for telling her side of the story. They pulled away and both girls looked as they see the "ghosts" of Aaron and Mia's mother, smiling at them.

A few seconds later, both ghosts have disappeared and Mia led Cheryl in the apartment and to her amazement, Rick shows up and after she lets him in, the two of them sat down on the couch and the young group talked throughout the night.

The End.

**A/n: Well that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. **

**I'm going to take a short break on writing cold case stories until I finish up some long stories that needs to be completed. In the meantime, I'm currently writing a few one shots for Cold Case. They should be up sometime this summer. **

**Thank you guys for reading, reviewing and alerting my stories. Your support has been beyond amazing and I hope you check out my other stories in the meantime. **

**Signing out for now,  
Spikeluver89**


End file.
